Today In WTF: Man Steals Dog At Site Of Car Crash

The illustrious and quick-thinking criminals of Southern California never cease to amaze us. In this edition of WTF, we take a look at the suspect who walked up to children who had just chased down a family pet involved in a pretty bad accident and stole it.

That's the right. Authorities say the guy nabbed the Yorkshire Terrier as its owner, a 24-year-old woman and her 2-year-old son, were hanging upside down in the wreckage of their vehicle Wednesday afternoon in Highgrove, a community of Riverside County. The suspect said he would take of the dog and return to its owners, but once he had little "Rizzo" (pictured) in his hands, Riverside County sheriff's officials say, he ran away never to return. Classy!

The mom and her son, by the way, sustained only minor injuries in the 3 p.m. accident in the 100 Block of Iowa Avenue. Only after they got home from a subsequent trip to the hospital did the shaken up family realize that Rizzo was missing.

After backtracking they realized that the scared dog hoofed it from the overturned vehicle, through a broken window, and was then captured by neighborhood children. The man walked up to them and told them in Spanish that he would take care of the pet.

Anyone with information about the dog-napping that sheriff's officials are calling a case of grand theft was encouraged to call Jurupa Station deputies at 951-955-2600.

L.A. Weekly staff writer Dennis Romero has worked on staff at several magazines and newspapers, including the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times, where he participated in Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the L.A. riots. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone online, the Guardian, and, as a young stringer, the New York Times.